U.S. Water Regulations to Be Re-evaluated by EPA and Army

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 27 proposed rescinding the Clean Water Rule imposed in 2015 and re-codifying the regulatory text that existed before it. This is an interim regulation that will give EPA, Department of Army, and Army Corps of Engineers time to undertake a thorough re-evaluation of the rules governing the waters of the United States.

“We are taking significant action to return power to the states and provide regulatory certainty to our nation’s farmers and businesses,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in a press release. “This is the first step in the two-step process to redefine ‘waters of the U.S.’ and we are committed to moving through this re-evaluation to quickly provide regulatory certainty, in a way that is thoughtful, transparent and collaborative with other agencies and the public.”

Reader Interactions

Comments

“Regulatory certainty” is double-speak for giving business a green light for externalizing costs to our communities at the expense of a healthy, safe environment in which man-made boundaries of state lines are meaningless. Cultivating the conditions that are conducive to a sustainable and fair economy depends upon sensible laws and regulations – not dogmatic ideology.